History
There is more to the world of Gabriola than the mark that the Legacy of Chaos is leaving. The continent of Gabriola has a rich and storied history that stretches back beyond memory of any sentient being. From the Timeless Void before anything existed to the Troll Empire and the Draconic Wars; there is more to know about Gabriola and its myriad species than you could ever wish to know. The Titans and their Creation Era: The Creation Era begins at the birth of time, when the Titans touched upon the Creation Inertia within the Void and created the Spheres of Existence. There is no telling how long the Era lasted, or what truly happened before the memory of the living ones began. All that survives of this Era are ancient relics, like the Dawnstones, and the oral traditions of the older civilisations who claim the tales come from pantheons of Gods, Spirits and Elementals. The Foundation of the Troll Empire and the Beast Era: The Beast Era is roughly defined in modern archaeology as the ancient period before the Draconic Wars yet after the founding of the first civilisations. While the start of the Beast Era is a source of scholarly debate, the main schools of thought place the Maji'ill or the Trolls as the First People. The majority of sources from this Era come in the many relics and ruins that were lost to the Draconic Wars and have been largely reclaimed by nature. Many of the Non-Human/Elven/Dwarven Races (or 'Beast' races, which gives the Era its name) maintain oral traditions of this era and even rare fragments of scripture that survived the Draconic Wars and the subsequent supression of Beast Civilisations. The Draconic Wars and the Shadow Era: The defining Era in Gabriolan history - the Shadow Era. Long forgotten by almost all civilisations, but the touch of which reverberates even now. The scaled wings that lay waste to entire villages in fits of rage and greed, the ruined cities and charred skeletons that mark the subjugation of Gabriola under its strongest single Empire. The Draconic Empire. How the Era began is debated, but what is known is that suddenly there was a massive devestation in the Central Hordelands region followed by the sudden and abrupt destruction of the Ancient Maji'ill Civilisation. What followed was a dark era for all in Gabriola, with dozens of wars that saw the subjugation or destruction of every Ancient Civilisation and those Peoples that lived on the world before the Dragons Came. The first clear definitive proof of Elves and Dwarves in Gabriola date back to this Era, although their peoples were firmly under the Dragon's Claw. The Coming of Man and the Resurgance Era: The end of the Shadow Era coincided with the arrival of Early Humans - a stock that the Svarjholders of today perfectly emulate - upon the shores of Northern-Western Gabriola. A period of climatic change seemed to force the local inhabitants - tree-living Beast Species that ranged the once-dense temperate forests in the region - South as Tundra appeared and the land succumbed to Permafrost. As the frost thickened, successive waves of Human Expansion flushed across Gabriola, settling lands that had never seen Humanity before and the further south these Humans went the easier life became for them. Throughout Gabriola the Beast Races seemed to throw off their scaled shackles and embrace new cultural routes, although the fruition of their efforts would take centuries to come to bare. Along with Humanity archaeological records show the first signs of Elven and Dwarven civilisations reaching a Golden Era in their spread and growth - again, at the expense of native Beast Folk. The Founding of Fonté and the Golden Era of Humanity: It was in the Sixth Expansion of Humanity that a man who would become a God-King created the Kingdom of Fonté amidst the grasslands of North-Eastern Gabriola. Uniting his followers behind a new religion - the Seven Holies - Thaddeus went on to unite much of the Human Kingdoms in the region under his immortal rule. Cultural assimilation and religious domination followed a Golden Era of Human Unity. The Council of Man formed amidst increased focus on trade and global interaction - united by a common fear of the non-Humans that plagued 'their lands'. In the West formed an Elven nation under the Ravenheart Dynasty, known as the Ravenheart Confederacy. This power secured non-Human domination of the Elves' Malhassari Forest, but to Beast Folk this was just another Empire to force them out. The Signing of the Horde Pact and the Chaos Era: Now we come to the Chaos Era, the Modern Era. Granted its name because of the continent-wide upheavels and recent large-scale skirmishes - battles on scales that haven't been seen since Dragons darkened the skies en masse. The Era is officially marked by the signing of the Horde Pact, uniting several clans of Galar Orcs with the Tauri Tribes and the refugees of the Galabrashi Trolls - an entire ancient kingdom destroyed by Human expansionism. The Horde Pact worked to secure a place for Non-Humans to live in the world without fear of Human hatred or discrimination. Over the course of the Era the Horde Pact has seen a vast number of other races and clans join its ranks; now the majority of the South lies under its sway - a land now known as the 'Hordelands'. Other fouls are afoot in the Chaos Era, issues that further fuel the strife of the Human/Orcish skirmishes. Issues like the arrival of the alien Kantarii upon the south-eastern shores and their quick domination of several local kingdoms speaks of terrible lands beyond Gabriola that have their own issues.